The Transportation Security Administration, which has recently started to respond more aggressively to constant criticism by fringe bloggers and right wing ideologues, is now taking on a powerful congressman.

The agency said Tuesday that it will not make any representatives available to appear before a subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee because the committee lacks jurisdiction over the agency. The full committee is headed by Rep. John Mica, a vociferous critic of the TSA.

An aviation subcommittee, headed by Rep. Thomas Petri, has scheduled the Thursday hearing in order to “examine the impact that the regulations and policies of the Transportation Security Administration have on aviation passenger experience and the free flow of aviation commerce,” according to a memorandum issued by Petri. A witness list indicated that TSA Administrator John Pistole had been invited to appear.

On the subcommittee's website, Petri called the TSA "a massive, inflexible, backward-looking bureaucracy of more than 65,000" that has spent $57 billion in its ten years of existence. "TSA is a top-heavy agency in need of reform," he wrote.

In a press release issued Tuesday, TSA said that because the rules of the House of Representatives “state that the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has no jurisdiction over the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), no representative from TSA will be present at the subcommittee on aviation hearing.

”TSA will continue to work with its committees of jurisdiction to pursue effective and efficient security solutions,” the release said. “In the 112th Congress alone, TSA witnesses have testified at 38 hearings and provided 425 briefings for Members of Congress.”

A spokesman for the committee was not immediately available for comment.